Jabez feaeey



(H0 Model.) J

TELEPHONE ANNUNGIATOE CASE.

No. 250,140. Patented Nov. 29,1881.

is/E UNITED STATES ATENT rrrce.

JABEZ FEAREY, OF NEWARK, NE W JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO DOMESTIC TELE- GRAPH AND TELEPHONE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

TELEPHONE-ANNUNCIATOR CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 250,140, dated November 29, 1881. Application filed November .17, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JABEZ FEAREY, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Telephone-AnnunciatorGases, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in telephone-annunciator cases; and it consists in an improved construction for the plug com IO monly used inmaking the connection between the main-line wire and the transmitter, in an improved construction for the series of plug ging-plates commonly arranged over a row of drop-shutters on an annunciator-case, and in the combination, with such plugging plate or plates, of a strip of metal connected with a generator, and arranged to make a connection through my improved plug with the main line to ring up the subscriber whose drop has fallen.

The object of my invention is to furnish in lieu of the plugs in common use, and connected by flexible wires with a transmitter and generator respectively, a single plug adapted to make the desired connections with the transmitter or generator at pleasure, and entirely disconnected from any wire or permanent attachmen t. These objects are accomplished by three devices: first, by connecting together or forming in one piece the plugging-plates re ferredto,and joiningthemelectricallytoatransmitter; second, by arranging a strip of metal parallel and contiguous to the said plates, and

connecting the said strip to a generator adapted to transmit a current through the same and the mainline, as desired; and, third, by forming upon the handle or neck of the plug a projection adapted to make a contact with the said strip, and secure a connection to the generator at the pleasure of the operator.

In the drawings annexed, Figure 1 is a front view ofa portion of an annunciator-case, showing five of the drops, and a transmitter secured to the frame convenient for use. Fig. 2 is an edge view, partly in section,of the mechanism operatingone drop, showing theimproved plug in complete side view inserted in the pluggingplate, and in contact with the generator connecting-strip. Fig. 3 is a View of the end of the plug and the collar flattened at one side.

A is the case; B B, the drops, the middle one of which is shown down to display the operation of a stop, 0, described herein. E is the latch of the drop-shutter; F, the magnet, which operates it; G, the spring contact-piece connected with the main line; H, the contactpiece operating with G to carry the line current through the magnet F, and throw down the drop. I is the handle of the plug i; a, the collar or projection upon the neck of the plug; b, the flat cut on one side of a; c, the pluggingplate connected permanently to the transmitter J d, the contact-strip, adjacent to c, and connected permanently to a generator, which may be a galvanic battery, as shown at K in the drawings, or a magneto-electric machine, as is usual.

The parts A, B, O, E, F, G, and H being made as usual, no further description of them is required.

The plugging-plate o is made different from others in being a continuous strip, and by connecting it directly to the transmitter J, I avoid the necessity of using a flexible connection to my plug when connecting the main-line spring G with the transmitter to hold converse with the person whose signal has been received. The strip at being close to the plugging-plate, without actual contact, provides that any projection formed upon the plug at the point nearest the plate when in use, will readily touch the strip, and carry the generator current into the main line to ring up the subscriber when desired. Such projection is preferably formed in the shape of a collar, a, made large enough to reach from the holein the plugging-plate to the adjacent strip, and flattened at one side, as at b, to permit the insertion of the plug in the plate without making the contact until dewho has signaled, he turns the handle of theplug until the collar a touches the strip d, and the generator-current immediately passes into the line and rings the bell of the subscriber to call his attention. This is accomplished without the need of changing one plug for another, or of having the flexible connections thereto, which frequently break or become damaged.

By forming a flat, as at 0, upon the side of the handle I the operator can always know the position in which the collar a is placed by the feeling of the handle. In Fig. 1 the collar and plug are shown without the handle I to make the relation of the collar to strip (1 more plainly visible.

The stop 0, referred to above, eonsists of a rod arranged below the drops a shortdistance to prevent them from falling all the way down, as is common. lVhen permitted to fall in the usual manner, one is very apt tojar down another, and compel the attendant to signal several parties before he can tell which dropfell first.

By arresting the shutter in the manner devised the jar is all absorbed by the stop 0, the length of which gives it a somewhat yielding character. The flexibility of such a rod is also useful in another way, as when a large number of the shutters are accidentally thrown down, as by a current in a thunder-storm, the attendant can close all the drops simultaneously by pushing the rod upward as far as it will yield, if held rigidly at the ends, as shown in Fig. 1.

By mounting each end ofthe rod in a hinged arm, as seen in Fig. 2 at f, the entire rod, including its ends, can be pushed up readily to close all the shutters resting upon it.

My improvements, or a part of them, may be readily applied to existing cases by connecting the separate plugging-plates with a piece of wire laid under them all on the wood and supplying the strip connecting with generator or not, as desired. The rod 0 may also be applied to any case independently.

I am aware that a continuous rod provided with holes for making various connections is not new; and I do not therefore claim it independently, but only in the combination represented herein.

I am also aware that a lifting device operating in a vertical slide to close an annunciator-shutter has been used heretofore; but my rod 0 has a very different function from any heretofore used in being mounted beneath a series of shutters in such a yielding condition that it arrests the falling shutter gently and checks its vibrations quickly by the simple means described. It also differs from others in affording a means of raising a whole row of shutters when accidentally thrown down together.

I am aware that it is not new to use a plug to make connection with two conductors arranged in the vicinity of the plug; but the novelty of my arrangement consists in connecting two parallel strips at option by turning a plug having a projection at one side of it, the plug meanwhile making a connection with a third conductor by spring-contact with its point and effecting all the desired connections to generator, transmitter, and main line without the use of any flexible conductor as used in invention of Bunnel, patented May 20, 1879, as No. 215,568, and many others.

I therefore claim myinvention as follows:

1. The combination, in an annunciator-case supporting a line or lines of drops B B, provided with the contact-springs G, of the continuous plugging-plate 0, connected with the transmitter J and provided with the holes opposite the said springs for the insertion of the plug, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The strip cl, arranged in proximity to the strip 0, connecting with the transmitter upon an annunciator-case, provided with a series of electric drops, a spring, G, for each drop, and plug i, constructed and operating substantially as described, to ring up the subscriber by a current from the generator without removing the plug from the transmitter-strip e, or the use of any flexible connection with the plug, substantially as set forth.

3. The plug t, having .a collar, a, with the flattened side Z), in combination with the transmitter-strip c and generator'strip d, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with a series of dropshutters arranged in a horizontal row upon an aununciator-case, the stop-rod O, unsupported between the ends or bearings, so as to make a yielding contact with the shutters, substantially as set forth.

' JABEZ FEAREY.

WVitnesses:

Hora ton HARRIS, CHARLES E. HEINZE. 

